When I visited New York City last year I passed a toystore and couldn’t help but be completely paralyzed by these dolls they had on display. These Bratz try hard to live up to their name. Apparently Mattel filed a lawsuit that the idea for those dolls was stolen from them and that they are heavily based on Mattel’s products – I’m not sure why anyone would want to take credit for these dolls.

First of all, they’re really creepy. Why are their heads so big? These stilettos look like weapons. Their faces seem inspired by child-pornography. Obviously they look incredibly slutty which leads to the question: what parents buy those dolls for their daughters.

Barbie is a controversial (yet quite essential) figure in American culture. Often seen as the beacon of a culture that objectifies women and imposes impossible body images on them, poor Barbie has been villified and somewhat antagonized as the antithesis to feminism. Well, suck on that Barbie.

The idea behind Barbie, in my humble opinion, is to give girls a mature “companion” (despite her lack of nipples or genitalia, she is a grown woman after all) with whom they can enact and experiment with ideas of womanhood and what kind of women they want to be when they’re grown up. There’s princess Barbie, doctor Barbie, even army Barbie. Despite her flawless appearance (I mean, c’mon who wants to play with an ugly doll??) she provides a blank slate that girls can project upon and fill with their own ideas. I’m not saying that Barbie is the savior of little girls in the western hemisphere but after being confronted with these Bratz I feel like a lot of Barbie criticism must be put in perspective.

If these Bratz are supposed to give little girls an idea of how to perform feminity and what’s out there in the world for them the message is strong and clear: Hit the streets, Girls, it’s time to earn money!